The late Cardinal Basil Hume is being held responsible for the election of Sir
Jimmy Savile as a member of the Athenaeum, the historical Pall Mall
establishment.

Not since Guy Burgess – a member of the Reform – defected to the Soviet Union, have members of an august club been more embarrassed. At the Athenaeum, however, its worthies are placing the blame for the election of Sir Jimmy Savile, who now stands accused of being a serial sex offender, on the shoulders of one deceased member.

“A lot of us took the view that Savile would not be a natural habitué of a club that has counted Sir Winston Churchill, Lord Palmerston and Lord Curzon as members, but the fact is we had no choice,” one grandee of the establishment in Pall Mall informs Mandrake.

“It was Cardinal Basil Hume, at the time the Archbishop of Westminster, who put this character up for membership, and, while we did give consideration to blackballing Savile, we knew that would have had to result in something that could not be countenanced – Hume stepping down.”

Savile had to wait only two months before being admitted to the club in 1984.

“It’s a considerable thrill for someone like me to be able to rub shoulders with the fascinating people who use the Athenaeum,” the disc jockey said. “I hope to go there once a week and have lunch or dinner with the object of speaking to people like ex-prime ministers.”

The cardinal had introduced Savile to Pope John Paul II when he visited Britain in 1982. Of Savile’s election to the Athenaeum, the cardinal’s spokesman noted: “He is a great admirer of what Jimmy has done for young people – and Stoke Mandeville – and is delighted to help in this matter.”